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Charles Mackay
Charles Mackay (27 March 1814 - 1889) was a Scottish poet, songwriter, and journalist. A bestselling songwriter in his day, Mackay is better known today for his non-fiction work, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. Life Overview Mackay, son of a naval officer, was born at Perth, and educated at the Royal Caledonian Asylum, London, and at Brussels, but much of his early life was spent in France. Coming to London in 1834, he engaged in journalism, published Songs and Poems (1834), wrote a'' History of London, Popular Delusions'', and a romance, Longbeard. His fame, however, chiefly rests upon his songs, some of which, including "Cheer, Boys, Cheer," were in 1846 set to music by Henry Russell, and had an astonishing popularity. In 1852 he became editor of the Illustrated London News, in the musical supplement to which other songs by him were set to old English music by Sir H.R. Bishop. Mackay acted as Times correspondent during the American Civil War, and in that capacity discovered and disclosed the Fenian conspiracy. He was awarded the degree of LL.D. from Glasgow in 1846.John William Cousin, "Mackay, Charles," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 251. Wikisource, Web, Feb. 8, 2018. Youth and education Mackay was born at Perth, Scotland. His father, George Mackay, was the 2nd son of Captain Hugh Mackay. Charles, having lost his mother during his infancy, lived until his 8th year under the care of a nurse, Grace Stuart, at a lonely house near the village of Newhaven, on the Firth of Forth. The nurse married Thomas Threlkeld, a tailor, formerly a soldier in George Mackay's regiment, and Charles in 1822 was sent to reside with them at Woolwich.Kent, 120. After attending a dame's school, he was entered in 1825 as a student at the Caledonian Asylum, then situated at Hatton Garden, and twice every Sunday for 3 years listened to Edward Irving in Cross Street Chapel, Hatton Garden. In 1828 he was placed by his father at a school in Brussels, on the Boulevard de Namur, and became proficient in French and German, and later on in Spanish and Italian. In 1830 Mackay was engaged, at a salary of 1200 francs, as a private secretary to William Cockerill, the ironmaster of Seraing, near Liège. He began writing in French in the Courrier Belge, and sent English poems to a local newspaper called The Telegraph. Thenceforth he spent nearly all his leisure in writing verse. In the summer of 1830 he visited Paris, and he spent 1831 with Cockerill at Aix-la-Chapelle. In May 1832 his father brought him back to London, where he found employment in teaching Italian to Benjamin Lumley , then a young solicitor. In 1834 he secured an engagement as an occasional contributor to The Sun, and brought out his maiden work, Songs and Poems, which he inscribed to his former instructors at the Caledonian Asylum. From the spring of 1835 till 1844 he was assistant sub-editor of the Morning Chronicle, then in its palmiest days. In the autumn of 1839 he spent a month's holiday in Scotland, witnessing the Eglintoun Tournament, which he described in the Chronicl''e’ and making many literary acquaintances in Edinburgh. On severing his connection with the ''Morning Chronicle in the autumn of 1844, he moved to Scotland, and became editor of the Glasgow Argus. In 1846 he collected verses which had appeared in the Daily News under Dickens's editorship as Voices from the Crowd. Henry Russell, to whom Lumley had introduced him, set some of the poems to music, and in that form they became popular all over the world. Of one of them, "The Good Time Coming," 400,000 copies were circulated. In July 1847 Mackay resigned his editorship of the Argus. In 1848 he joined the editorial office of the Illustrated London News, and became editor of the paper in 1852. At the suggestion of Herbert Ingram, the proprietor, Mackay began in December 1851 the issue of a series of musical supplements, each containing an original song by Mackay, adapted to an ancient English melody which was specially arranged by Sir Henry Bishop. Bishop's death, on 30 April 1855, interrupted the scheme; but 80 lyrics of a projected 100 were thereupon published under the title of Songs by Charles Mackay. Reissued in a popular form in 1856 as Songs for Music, the publisher could say with perfect truth: "Many of the songs included in this collection have been said and sung in every part of the world where the English language is spoken." The pieces included "Cheer, Boys! Cheer!" "To the West! To the West!" "Tubal Cain," "There's a Land, a dear Land," and "England over all."Kent, 121. On 3 October 1857 Mackay left Liverpool on an 8 months' lecturing tour through the United States and Canada. By 2 June 1858 he had returned home, and in the following year brought to an end his association with the Illustrated London News. A volume of Collected Songs, with illustrations by John Gilbert, was published in 1859, and in 1868 Mackay's poems appeared in the ‘Chandos Classics.’ In 1860 he established the London Review, and his editorship was inaugurated on 2 July by a banquet at the Reform Club. Another new periodical, Robin Goodfellow, was started by him in 1861. Neither proved successful. From February 1862 to December 1865 Mackay was the special correspondent of the Times at New York during the civil war, and in the autumn of 1862 he revealed in the Times the existence of the Fenian conspiracy in America. He edited Jacobite Songs and Ballads, 1861; Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England, 1863; A Thousand and One Gems of English Poetry, 1867; and A Thousand and One Gems of English Prose, 1872. Mackay was twice married: first, during his Glasgow editorship, to Rosa Henrietta Vale, by whom he had 3 sons and a daughter; and secondly to Ellen Mills, a widow, whose maiden name was Kirtland. His 1st wife died on 28 December 1859, and his 2nd wife in 1875. Before his marriage to Mills, the couple had an illegitimate daughter, Marie, who became a bestselling novelist under the name "Marie Corelli".Marie Corelli (1855-1924), Marie Corelli Collection, 1885-1932, Bryn Mawr College Libary. Web, Feb. 20, 2017. One of his sons by his first wife was poet Eric Mackay. Although recognising that his real vocation was that of a songwriter, he devoted much time in his later years to wayward and eccentric excursions into Celtic philology. He died at Longridge Road, Earl's Court, London, on 24 Dec. 1889, and was buried on 2 Jan. 1890 in Kensal Green cemetery. Writing His principal poetical works were: ‘Songs and Poems,’ 1834, 8vo. ‘The Hope of the World,’ 1840, 12mo. ‘The Salamandrine, or Love and Immortality,’ 1842, 12mo; 2nd edit. 1853; 3rd edit. 1856. ‘Legends of the Isles,’ 1845, 12mo. ‘Voices from the Crowd,’ 1846, 16mo; 4th edit. 1851; 5th and revised edit. 1857, 8vo. ‘Voices from the Mountain,’ 1847, 16mo; 2nd edit. 1857, 8vo. ‘Town Lyrics,’ 1848, 16mo. ‘Egeria, or the Spirit of Nature,’ 1850, 8vo. ‘The Lump of Gold,’ 1856, 8vo. ‘Under Green Leaves,’ 1857, 8vo. ‘A Man's Heart,’ 1860, 8vo. ‘Studies from the Antique, and Sketches from Nature,’ 1864, 8vo. ‘Interludes and Undertones, or Music at Twilight,’ 1884, 8vo. ‘Gossamer and Snowdrift,’ 1890 (posthumous), 8vo. His principal prose works were: ‘History of London from its Foundation by the Romans to the Accession of Queen Victoria,’ 1838, 8vo. ‘The Thames and its Tributaries, or Rambles among Rivers,’ 2 vols. 1840, 8vo. ‘Longbeard, Lord of London, a Romance,’ 3 vols. 1841, 12mo; 2nd edit. 2 vols. 1851; 3rd edit. 2 vols. 1869. ‘Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions,’ 3 vols. 1841, 8vo. ‘The Scenery and Poetry of the English Lakes, a Summer Ramble,’ 1846, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1852. ‘History of the Mormons,’ 1851, 8vo; 3rd edit. 1852, 8vo; 4th edit. 1853, 12mo; 5th edit. 1857, 8vo. ‘Life and Liberty in America,’ 2 vols. 1859, 8vo. ‘The Gouty Philosopher, or the Opinions, Whims, and Eccentricities of John Wagstaffe, Esq.,’ 1862, 8vo. ‘Under the Blue Sky,’ 1871, 8vo. ‘Lost Beauties of the English Language, an Appeal to Authors,’ &c., 1874, 8vo. ‘The Gaelic and Celtic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe,’ 1877, 8vo. ‘Forty Years' Recollections of Life, Literature, and Public Affairs (1830–1870),’ 2 vols. 1877, 8vo. ‘Luck, and what came of it: a Tale of our Times,’ 3 vols. 1881, 8vo. ‘The Poetry and Humour of the Scotch Language,’ 1882, 8vo. ‘The Founders of the American Republic,’ 1885, 8vo. ‘Through the Long Day, or Memorials of a Literary Life during Half a Century,’ 2 vols. 1887, 8vo. ‘A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch,’ 1888. Recognition In 1846 Mackay was made an LL.D. of Glasgow University. Publications *''Songs and Poems''. London: Cochrane & M'Crone, 1834. *''The Hope of the World, and other poems''. London: Bentley, 1840. *''Songs''. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1855. *''‘The Salamandrine, or Love and Immortality''. London, How and Parsons, 1842; London: Ingram, Cooke, 1853; London: Routledge, 1856. *''Legends of the Isles, and other poems''. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1845. *''Voices from the Crowd''. London: Wm. S. Orr, 1846. *''Voices from the Mountains''. London: Wm. S. Orr, 1847. *''Town Lyrics, and other poems''. London: D. Bogue, 1848. *''Egeria; or, The spirit of nature; and other poems''. London: D. Bogue, 1850. *''Voices from the Mountains and from the Crowd''. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1853. *''The Lump of Gold''. London & New York: Routledge, 1856. *''Under Green Leaves''. London & New York: Routledge, 1857. *''Poetical Works''. London: Routledge, 1857. *''Collected Songs'' (illustrated by John Gilbert). London & New York: Routledge, 1859. *''A Man's Heart: A poem''. London: Smith, Elder, 1860. *''Ballads and Lyrics''. London& New York: Routledge, Warne & Routledge, 1859. *''Studies from the Antique, and Sketches from Nature''. London: Virtue, 1864. *''Poetical Works''. London: F. Warne, 1876. *''Interludes and Undertones; or Music at twilight''. London: Chatto & Windus, 1884. *''Gossamer and Snowdrift: Posthumous poems'' (with introduction by Eric Mackay). London: G. Allen, 1890. Novels *''Longbeard, Lord of London: A romance''. (3 volumes), London: E. Bull, 1841 **also published as Longbeard; or, The revolt of the Saxons: A romance. (2 volumes) London: Routledge 1852. *''Luck, and What Came of It: A Tale of our Times''. (3 volumes), London: W.H. Allen, 1881. *''The Gouty Philosopher; or, The opinions, whims, and eccentricities of John Wagstaffe, Esq.. London: Saunders & Otley, 1862. Non-fiction *''History of London: From its Foundation by the Romans to the Accession of Queen Victoria. London: 1838. *''The Thames and its Tributaries; or, Rambles among rivers''. (2 volumes), London: R. Bentley, 1840. *''Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. (3 volumes), London: Richard Bentley. 1841; Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1850; London & New York: Routledge, 1892; New York: Crown, 1996; New York: John Wiley, 1996; Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2001; Petersfield, Hampshire, UK: Harriman House, 2003. ''Volume I, Volume II, Volume III *''The Scenery and Poetry of the English Lakes: A summer ramble''. London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, 1846. *''History of the Mormons''. Aubun, NY: Derby & Miller, 1852; New York & Auburn, NY: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1854. *''Life and Liberty in America; or, Sketches of a tour in the United States and Canada in 1857-58''. (2 volumes), London: Smith, Elder, 1859. *''Medora Leigh: A history and an autobiography'' (with Elizabeth Medora Leigh). London: R. Bentley, 1869; New York: Harper, 1870. *''Under the Blue Sky''. London : Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, 1871. o. *''Lost Beauties of the English Language, an Appeal to Authors''. London: Chatto & Windus, 1874. *''The Gaelic and Celtic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe''. London: privately published, printed by N. Trübner, 1877. *''Forty Years' Recollections of Life, Literature, and Public Affairs, 1830–1870''. (2 volumes), London: Chapman & Hall, 1877. *''The Poetry and Humour of the Scotch Language''. London: Alexander Gardner, Paisley, 1882. *''The Founders of the American Republic: A history and biography with a supplementary chapter on ultra-democracy''. Edinburgh & London: Blackwood, 1885. *''Through the Long Day; or, Memorials of a literary life during half a century''. (2 volumes), London: W.H. Allen, 1887. *''A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch''. London: Whittaker, 1888 **facsimile edition as The Auld Scots Dictionary: A concise history of Scottish words, their meaning and origins. Glasgow: Lang Syne, 1992. Edited *''A Collection of Songs and Ballads Relative to the London Prentices and Trades; and to the affairs of London generally during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries''. London: Percy Society, 1841. *''Jacobite Songs and Ballads of Scotland from 1688 to 1746''. London: & Glasgow, 1860. *''The Streets of London; with anecdotes of their most celebrated residents''. London: R. Bentley, 1861. *''Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England, 1642-1684. London: Griffin, Bohn, 1863. *''Home Affections: Pourtrayed by the poets. London: Routledge, 1866. *''A Thousand and One Gems of English Prose''. London & New York: Routledge, 1872. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Charles Mackay, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 19, 2017. See also *List of British poets *List of English-language songwriters References * . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 18, 2017. Notes External links ;Poems *Mackay in A Victorian Anthology, 18237-1895: "Tell Me, Ye Winged Winds," "Earl Norman and John Truman," "What Might Be Done" *Charles Mackay at AllPoetry (10 poems) *Charles Mackay in The Modern Scottish Minstrel *Charles Mackay at PoemHunter (85 poems) *Charles Mackay at Poetry Nook (93 poems) ;Books * ;Audio / video * ;About * Mackay, Charles Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:People from Perth, Scotland Category:Scottish poets